Hatsuyuki Shinderera
by Kyae
Summary: Yuki lives an isolated life in the Sohma compound under the possessive eye of Akito... But hope can come in the most unusual places and that is a fact Yuki will find out soon enough. YukixKyo Rewrite! Now Updated .
1. First impressions

******AN: Okay, another new story - I came up with this again while at School (with the... help of some of my friends) and just randomly decided to put this on.**

******Just so EVERYONE knows I'm am one of the biggest Yuki-fans in the world, and as much as it kills me to do this to him... I had to (friend forcing me)...**

******Please enjoy, and take everything with a pinch of salt, as even though some character's are a little OOC, that's all to fill in the story line... so I _had_ to change the characters a little.**

******Also, this is kinda based on a "cinderella" theme... so if you enjoy that story then you'll enjoy this...**

******Please read and review**

******Kaytii/**

******P.S. I do not own furuba.**

******Pairings - YukixKyo, KyoxMysteriousGirl, AkitoxYuki (onesided). If there are anymore I'll mention 'em later.**

******Hatsuyuki Shinderera**

They all call me a 'prince' at school; a mysterious person to stir the day dreams of all that meet me…

A beauty that is too precious to be anything _but_ admired from afar…

… A thing that is NEVER to be touched…

… Never to be shown warmth…

… Comfort…

… Or love…

… Not by anyone…

… That is the story of my pitiful existence, well what has been there so far…

Wherever I am, as long as I walk in the 'outside' world… everything is **always** the same… always…

The girls that see me fantasise… it makes me want to be sick… and to run away…

**But I can't… **

… And the boys that see me… well… they either admire me as much as the girls, or… or they **hate** me…

… They either love me… or despise me…

… And call me a 'girly boy'…

… If only they knew…

"Hey, Yuki-kun! I thought it was you! Wait up!" A girl with long brown hair comes up to me smiling her usual, peaceful smile and begins to walk along with me. "Yuki-kun… what's wrong…? Are you crying…? What's he done…?"

Tohru Honda was the only person I had ever confined **all** my truths with…

Only she knew **everything** about me…

… Absolutely everything…

… Not even my **master **knew everything…

… Or my family…

… Only she…

"If you are referring to Akito-sama… then it's the same as always Honda-san… and if it's about **him**… well… it's still the same as always…"

"Oh Yuki-kun!" She always knew what to say, in her own little ditzy way… I only wish that she could say the same thing about me… "You shouldn't think like that… I'm sure if he knew you for whom you really are, then he'd love you… anyone would…"

Only one little problem with that theorem though…

"… But he'll never know me for who I truly am though Honda-san… Because…"

"…It's not allowed…" She finished for me, putting a comforting hand upon my shoulder. "… Even though I wish it were…"

"Thank you Honda-san… But I'm as content as I'll ever be now, aren't I? I mean… life isn't going to get better than this… it'll only get worse…won't it…?"

And even though she denied it without hesitation, we both knew it to be the truth…

… Because it was my fate…

… A fate that had been pushed upon me from the moment I was born…

… The moment I was born the prized Nezumi of the Juunishi and a--…

"-I'll see you tomorrow, okay Yuki-kun?" She waved happily as she turned left down the fork in the road, off to the city suburb in which she lived.

I, on the other hand, had to turn right, off to an isolated area of the city: The Sohma family **compound**...

The place of my nightmares…

As I passed through the lane, slowly creeping down the darkness filled path, I saw some Kyo talking to a girl. Quickly I hid behind a tree, not wanting to be seen by anyone – especially not by** him**…

… The one who hated me, and yet knew nothing about me…

… And the one I loved…

"Hey! Kyo-kun! Are you coming or not?" A girl was pulling along the boy, and I instantly felt jealous of her… though I couldn't fully comprehend why…

"LEAVE ME ALONE KAGURA!" He shouted, and I flinched at the anger ion his voice, even though it wasn't directed at me.

"KYO YOU'RE SO MEAN!" Within seconds she had changed _completely_, now attacking Kyo before hugging him possessively and crying.

"Who did this to you darling?" She asked tearfully and I peered out a little closer, to see what his reaction would be.

"YOU! ..." He shouted back, before his eyes rested upon mine and turned hard… and cold, like they always did when he saw me… no matter how much I wished it were otherwise… "Come on Kagura. I don't want to stay here anymore. Let's go."

And with that he left, marching away from my destination and towards the fork in the roads, turning left down the path Tohru had gone down, Kagura following him quickly…

… And with that I was left completely alone…

… Like always…

… Even when I was surrounded by crowds and people were talking to me… well… I still felt alone…

… Because none of them were talking to the **real** me…

… No one did…

… Except Tohru…

… And **him**…

… My **maste**r…

… And my **god**…

… The god of the Juunishi…

… And the person I was forced to return to every single day… for I was chained to him not only because of the curse… but because of my fear…

… My fear of a life without him…

… Because he had created me to be unable to live a life happily without him…

… Or live any kind of life at all…

… Because that was how I was…

"Yuki-san." A maid called me from the gate as it opened to let me in. "Akito-sama _demands_ that you go and see him _immediately_! You have kept him too long! Where have you been?"

"Umm… I was… I was just late from school… I'm sorry…"

"Save your apologies for Akito-sama, Yuki-kun; just get out of that ridiculous attire and into something more… appropriate…"

I instantly looked down upon what I was wearing, and wondered what was wrong with the black school uniform I was wearing…

Then it hit me.

He always hated the uniform I wore… because it hid the truth about me completely…

I went silently to my room, and changed swiftly into the kimono that had been left out for me– a seductive purple silk sleeveless Kimono that complimented my eyes perfectly – for a guy Akito sure had good clothing tastes… or maybe it was Aaya's designs… yeah… that was more likely… **much** more likely…

The corridor that led to Akito's room was almost completely pitch black, with only a few candles on the walls lighting the way. It had always made me nervous to walk these corridors, ever since I was a little child, and it was no different now…

… Because my memories here had always been bad… from the age of five when I had been forced to come here, and my parents memories had been erased of me… Since that foreboding day I have had to live constantly under that cage of lies, chained up and a slave to Akito…

… Just like we **all** are…

"Yuki-chan…" I froze as a chilling voice crept up me, sending slight shivers of fear through my delicate body. "Take off that ridiculous _thing_. You shouldn't pretend at home. It's rude to me!"

Naturally, he is the one who forces me to do this… to **be **like this… because he is my master…

… My god…

"Yes m… yes Master…" I reply weakly as I nervously run my fingers through my hair…

… And gently pull off the wig, letting my long, silver locks flow gracefully around me, showing me for what a truly was…

… The one secret that only about five people knew about…

… And the one secret that would ruin my life…

* * *

**AN: I bet you didn't expect that! lol**

**Please review - I don't mind if you wanna shout at me for doing this to Yuki :P**


	2. The Undisputable Truth

******AN: Okay, so I hope you've all forgiven me for doing that to poor yun-yun but it was necessary.**

**Thankyou for my reviewer and I hope people review if they like!**

**Please enjoy...**

**Kaytii/**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own fruits basket.**

* * *

******Hatsuyuki Shinderera**

"Do you not find that wig annoying Yuki-chan…?" Akito walked up to me and gently tucked a stray piece of hair behind my ear. "I know **I** certainly do…"

"Yes, Akito-sama… I _do_ find it annoying… but if I didn't wear it then they would easily realise that I wasn't a guy and…"

"That would **not** be acceptable." He finished strongly, as I knew he would. Akito had always been strict in that respect… in the respect that I never told anyone my **true gender**…

… That I was a **girl**…

"No master… it wouldn't be…" I whispered in return as Akito led me gently into his chamber and I sat down in the soft chair that was always reserved for me, directly opposite him. "I… I'm sorry…"

I never knew what made me submit to Akito like that so reverently… but I always did… I couldn't help it… maybe it was the Nezumi spirit inside me bowing down to my 'lord and master'…

… Or maybe it was the bond that forced god and his first together, no matter what the circumstances were…

"So… my Yuki… how has your day been today…? Has everyone been _respectable _to you…?"

I knew automatically what **that** meant.

It meant _'had anyone called you a girl, even as a joke?'_

It meant that Akito still wanted me kept on a leash…

… Not that I needed to be kept on one…

… After all, I had nowhere to go if I ran away – nowhere whatsoever to run to…

… Nowhere for me to _truly_ call a **home**…

… Not really…

"Yes Akito-sama… No one has found out the secret… _either_ of them…" While in the company of Akito, or any of the others who knew my secret, I always let my voice slip into its natural, _higher_ tones, constantly feeling relief that I could feel free of pretence even for just half an hour – to me anytime being my true self was **bliss**… a bliss that I couldn't really afford…

… Not in a cruel world such as this…

… Never in a world like this…

"Good. It's good to know that everyone is behaving _as they should_… Did you know that stupid cat Kyo came over to the estate today…?" As he spoke, I did my best to keep a completely unmoved face – there was no way I could let him know my feelings for that strange boy in my class… the one I envied… and the one I loved… but the one who regarded me as a rival… because he didn't know the truth… "Something about a bet… you know he _really_ hates you Yuki-chan… I still don't understand why you are always trying to make an effort with all the other people at that school… Why don't you just drop out of there and be home schooled…? It won't **kill** you…"

Every single day since the one I had decided to make my mother enrol me into the public **co-ed** school near the estate Akito had been having a go at me to leave. Was it just because he needed to have his zodiac around him constantly…? I mean… I know Kureno and Shigure are always hanging around… but he doesn't demand to see them _every single day_…

Was it just me then…? Had he really wanted me to stay in the cage, even though he had acted all graceful when mother had asked him…?

… Had he just been pretending when he said to her that I could choose to do what I wanted to do with my life…?

… Had he just said those things to placate me… to _calm me down_...?

… To tame me…?

"But Akito-sama… I _like_ going to this High school… and… you said it was okay… no one will ever find out what I really am… and there are other Sohma's there who can cope with the whole 'cursed' part of their lives… Isn't it easier for me to go about unfounded… especially when the boys think _I'm_ a boy as well…?"

It was the argument that I **always** used… and it was the one that he couldn't dispute, that made him hold on in his onslaught for another day…

"Fine Yuki. You can go now. Just don't leave the premises. Be in your room for 9."

And that was it; I was dismissed from the "god's" presence.

I walked up silently and went out of the room, by back not facing Akito until well after the door had closed behind me.

"At Akito's again, eh Yuki-kun…?" I turned around sharply to see Shigure standing there, smirking as he saw me in a _**girl's**_ kimono, with my hair down. "Wow… you sure look an awful lot better dressed like _that_ rather than in that silly wig… quite attractive…"

He squealed suddenly as I chucked a book on the side of the corridor at him forcefully, causing him to step back a few times, regaining his balance. Officially Shigure doesn't know about my… _situation_… but, due to being near Akito so much, I can easily assume that he knows that I'm living some kind of a lie… to **any** Sohma that lived on the inside it was obvious… unfortunately… **that** was why I couldn't let anyone get close to me, why I had to always put on a mask and pretend that I didn't mind that people always admired my from afar… Only Tohru _really_ understood that I hated it all… and that I wanted to live a life without all the pretences and lies…

"Piss off Shigure! It's none of your business what I wear or **don't **wear. OR what I do or don't do. So just leave me alone."

My voice remained calm – it always did when I was around people who thought I was a boy – after all… _boys_didn't have hissy fits now, did they? _Boys_didn't scream when someone came onto them; if it was another boy and they weren't like that, then they'd probably do something like that… I don't know, seeing as…

I'M NOT A BOY MYSLEF!

I sometimes wish that I could just scream that out… but I know full well that I can't… so I have to just make the best I can with what I can…

Even though I wish it could all be out in the open…

And so that Kyo would know me for what I really was.

Not a rival, not an enemy…

… Not a person to hate…

… Not just the Nezumi…

But a fellow **human being,** a fellow person who could share in all of his laughter, and help him in his pain… and protect him from when 'god' was angry…

… A person who wouldn't judge him based on what position he was in the Juunishi… but on who he really was… because I knew how it felt to be judge based on what spirit possessed me…

… And not to be judged because of whom I was myself…

As I ran away from him, I felt bitter tears creep up in my eyes, and when I could no longer see for the whelming tears streaming down my face, I sat down, in the middle of that dark, deserted corridor, and allowed my emotions to take over me, to let me weep in peace, to sooth myself down in my own special way.

I couldn't cope in a place like this for much longer; in a place full of pretences. It truly was destroying me.

But I knew I couldn't escape; there was no way that Akito would allow it… and there was no way the Nezumi spirit within me would allow me to abandon everything either, trapping me here, to my master.

Forever.


	3. The Cat

**AN: So... Chapter 3. This time it's in Kyo-kun's POV, so I hope you get a good idea of what he thinks.**

**Also, the plot line will begin to come more clear... I think... I hope...**

**Please enjoy, read and review...**

**Kaytii/**

**DISCLAIMER: No mater how much I may want to, I don't own _Fruits Basket_...**

Hatsuyuki Shinderera

Kyo's POV…

"Hey! Kyo-kun! Are you coming or not?" I looked up from where I was sitting to see Kagura there, waiting for me… standing there whining like she always was – gosh, how she annoys me… "You're not upset about _you-know-what_ are you…?"

The last part she whispered, but it didn't matter. How _dare _she bring that up – it was NONE of her business – none at all… What happened that night in the estate a few weeks ago has nothing to do with her. She wasn't even there for me… how could I let her talk about it as if she had cared what happened…?

"LEAVE ME ALONE KAGURA!" I shouted at her angrily, glad to have a target to vent out my anger – I don't know what I would do if I didn't have the chance to scream… it would eat me from the inside out, I think…

"KYO YOU'RE SO MEAN!" Within seconds she had changed _completely_, like she always did. Why did I always have to forget that she would try and kill me when I said stuff like that…? God, I really _am_ an idiot sometimes… just like _he_ always says… the bastard…

"Who did this to you darling?" She asked tearfully as she let go of the head lock that she had put me in, allowing me to stumble backwards a little away from that estate, and towards home… the dojo…

Then I heard a rustling from the trees ahead of us, and as I turned to face them, I saw a pair of violet eyes looking on at us, a pair of beaut—

NO! It was _him_. That damn sissy boy who was always surrounded by everyone… that damn boy who was loved by all…

Who stole all that I had worked so far for just like that the moment he arrived at this school last year…

"YOU! ..." I gazed at the boy with pure hatred as he looked upon me, and my eyes turned completely hard to his gaze, like they always did when I saw that damn thing… I couldn't help it; even if I was rebuked by the Sensei's and the other idiots at the school… there was just something _not right_ about him… something that made me hate him… "Come on Kagura. I don't want to stay here anymore. Let's go."

I didn't want to be in the presence of the 'prince' anymore… the way his pitiful eyes stared at me… Eugh! It was just so annoying! It was as if he could bloody see into my soul or something! I HATE IT!

I HATE _HIM_!

I HATE ALL HE IS!

I didn't wait for Kagura to catch up with me, I just stormed off… I didn't know why I was always like this – and to be honest – I just didn't care! As long as he was there for me to hate, I wouldn't think about anything else – after all, as Shishou always says, I'm more of a 'doer' than a 'thinker'… And I always will be – I have no other way to live.

"Bye byeeeeeeee Kyo!" I tried to stop myself from choking as she enveloped me into a strangulating embrace before running off gaily, humming to herself the 'meow' song… in a way I envied her for being so carefree… I could only wish to be like that… and even still, I know that it will never happen… not to me, the outcast. Never.

I was forever cursed to be… well, _cursed_. There was no other way to say it. And why? Because that _damn rat_, whoever he is, _cursed me_. IT'S HIS ENTIRE FAULT –ALL OF IT!

"Kyo-kun, are you alright…?" I looked up and saw my Shishou standing there outside the dojo, smiling gently at me, soothingly even. "You're not still thinking about…"

"No. I've almost forgotten about it, okay? It doesn't matter. I can't do anything about it, so just leave me alone." With that I stormed away into the dojo, unwilling to be asked anything more about what had happened…

… Because I **hadn't** forgotten about that terrible night… and I don't think I will, or I could… because that night scared me…

… The night I first saw what the great 'head of the family' do something _unforgivable_…

… The night blood was first spilt into my heart, when I saw that dark room, the room which was meant for **me**, inhabited by someone else… someone in **pain**…

… Someone who was screaming out… she was just a young girl, younger than me… and I could do nothing to save this child…

What kind of a person did that make me…?

But what kind of people did it make all of those Sohma snobs who lived there, and passed that room every day, and yet didn't help her…

And what did it make that damn Yuki Sohma, who most likely knew the child? How could ANYONE just let something like this happen to a child…? How could anyone let Akito always have his way…?

**I** couldn't do anything, stuck away here… but they could, couldn't they…?

*Knock, knock*

I looked up as Shishou entered my room, obviously concerned about my outburst.

"Here, Kyo, come on… I'm making some dinner for us…"

He's making dinner for us…?

In the _Kitchen_…?

And he's… _here_…?

Urgently I raced downstairs, just in time to save the overflowing sushi and burning rice. Gosh, why did he even _try_ to cook after all of the disasters he had had previously in this bloody house?

"What did I do this time Kyo…?" It was so annoying – I wanted to both laugh at his lack of culinary skills and weep in frustration at his lack of common sense. How could someone so great at Martial arts, and fighting, and teaching be so… _rubbish_ at something as simple as cooking a bit of rice and fish.

"Here Shishou, _this_ is how you do it…" I began explaining it gall to him as I cooked, hoping that next time, either my long explanation would put him off cooking, or that he would remember something**, **_**anything**_would be better than nothing…

It was only later that I realised that by doing this, he had made me forget about my worries, even for just a few hours… He was the best.

"So… Kyo…" Shishou began as we sat down to eat, the somewhat _edible_ food. "It's your eighteenth birthday party next week. Have you got any ideas?"

"Urmm…" To be honest, I had been trying to put off this conversation, preferably to _way_ past my eighteenth birthday… "I… I'm not sure…"

"Oh Kyo!" He smiled and ruffled my hair from across the table, laughing to himself softly. "Then would you like _me_ to do the planning…?"

I suppose it could be worse…

… O, wait… It COULD be worse…

… Especially if he cooked…

"Shishou, I'll let you plan my birthday on one condition… that you hire a caterer and have **absolutely nothing** to do with the refreshments side of it."

"Very well Kyo… Just make sure you turn up… I'm sure you will have a great time…"

Of course I wouldn't.

I was _the cat_.

The Cat just didn't do "great times"…

The Cat didn't have love, and hope and all of that stuff…

I just had myself… and that was my first priority…

… Then why did I still think about those screams in the night…


	4. A Treasured Toy

**AN: Okay, so here is Chapter 4, I really hope you enjoy**

**Thankyou for everyone who's revewed - and in answer to Chara's review - in this fanfic, yes Yuki's a girl**

**enjoy**

**Kaytii/**

Hatsuyuki Shinderera

Yuki's POV

All I have ever wanted was to be loved, and understood by another…

But I've known for a long time now that that is never going to happen to me – my fate is sealed; has already been written down for all to see, and I'm stuck, helplessly following the path that has been forced upon me so long ago I can barely remember it…

But I know it's there…

… And I know that I must follow it…

… Because I have no other way to live my life…

… Thanks to Akito…

I will never be free, I will be stuck forever in that dark room that was known as 'mine', trapped for all eternity under Akito's cruel, heartless glare…

… His gaze from which I could never break free.

As the teardrops flooded down my face I slammed shut the door to my room, leaving me consumed in darkness. There were no windows in the room, and Akito had refused to let me mend the light bulb, so it was dark during the day as well as the night. But I didn't mind. The darkness here wasn't evil. It was calm, and soothing…

… Not like in that **other** room…

… That other room truly stirred up my fears in my heart, and trapped me to the world I hated. The world of lies, and secrets, and illusions…

The world that Akito created as a prison for me to live in with him and the other Juunishi…

Even as I sat there, I could feel the walls moving in on me… closing all around me… dragging me down into the depths of hell…

Why couldn't I just live in the normal world…? In a normal home, with normal people…? And a normal family, _any_ family other than the one I had…

Why…?

I couldn't bare the darkness anymore – I never could. It always made me… uneasy…

So I left the room a mere minute after I had entered it, fully intending just to wander around until I was sent for, or ordered back to my room… until I heard his voice…

Akito's…

"Yuki's received _mail_…? Yuki-kun _never _gets sent any mail. Who is it from woman?" His bitter tones cut through me, but it was what he said that I concentrated on this time. Receive a letter? _Me_? No one ever sent me anything… I didn't even receive a birthday card from my _family_ for goodness' sake… And yet I had received something now…

… But I knew that I would never see it; after all, if Akito doesn't like it, it doesn't happen… but still… _someone thought of me_… Someone remembered me and wrote to me… I wasn't just _invisible_ to the world… Words can't describe this feeling inside me… it was illuminating… like a star, leading me on… like my own personal star…

"I… It's from Kazuma-san, Akito-sama…"

"Kazuma… Kazuma Sohma… where have I heard that name from woman…?" His voice was thoughtful at the moment, but I knew as soon as he realised who Kazuma was, his temper would reach maximum… But why would Kazuma send _me_ an invite to the event of the year, even if his son _didn't_ know about it…

"Kazuma-san… he… he's the foster father of the cat, Akito-sama…"

"How _dare_ that man think that he has the right to let my precious Nezumi come into contact with that _thing_? I **won't** allow it! Burn that disastrous thing and make sure I hear nothing about it!"

"Yes Akito-sama… but what if it is mention at Yuki-san's school… What if he finds out another way…?"

"Don't worry…" I froze as Akito's voice grew hard, and determined, and cruel – the exact same tones that he used when speaking to me… and it made my blood boil in fear – deathly fear… "I shall make sure that _darling_ Yuki-kun doesn't expect anything from it… after all, _he hates the cat_…"

When had that been decided…?

Sure, I hadn't known for certain that it was the same Kyo that was cursed by the cat… but why did it have to be like this…? All this _hatred_, and fear… and darkness…?

Did he hate me because of _what_ I was… or _who_ I was…?

Or did he just hate me for no reason what so ever, just to ease his own guilt…?

Was I just a _thing_ to him, as well as to Akito, and the other Juunishi…?

A figurehead for some 'grand plan'…? Well, I would NOT abide to that idea…

Who was I fooling…?

Certainly not myself…

I couldn't stand to stay there any longer, listening to Akito's plans to crush my fragile spirit even more than it was… I was weak enough as it was…

"Yuki-chan… what are you doing on these corridors so late at night…?" I shivered involuntarily as Akito came up to me. Had he seen me near the mail room? I was only two corridors away after all… or did he just want to spend some time with his Nezumi, because that was all I was to him, after all…

"I… I…" I stumbled awkwardly through my sentence, but he just smirked, and stroked my cheek with his ice cold hand once. I froze immediately as he did this, and all I could think of was _does he think I'm his pert or something_…?

"Never mind, **my** Nezumi…" Akito almost seemed to answer my thought out question. "Come, let us walk; I'll take you to your room. Young _Girls_ shouldn't be out at this time of night – after all, you don't want to be caught by all those perverts in the night… do you…?"

I hated dearly the way he always patronised me, especially about being a girl. I had been brought up learning self-defence, and could use it easily, and still Akito insisted on those old fashioned courtesies, as if I were a little China doll that he owned, and stared at whenever he was bored.

Because that was why I was here, why all of us were here; to be his entertainment and his companion… to be little more than court jesters for our god's amusement…

And yet still… all the others had managed to get out of the golden cage, even if only just a little…

So why couldn't I?

Why did I alone have to bear all of Akito, and all of the curse…?

Why couldn't I be free for just one measly day…?

Why couldn't I dance, for once dance as a girl… do the one thing that I had always wanted to…?

With dancing I could be free, and in the music I could feel as if I were in a completely different world to this one full of cruelties, and be… limitless…

Never have a place I had to go, or follow a standard I had to be…

Just to be free.

That would forever be my greatest wish… and it would be the one thing I would never be able to have, because I was the Nezumi, Akito's treasured toy.


	5. Hatsuyuki Part 1

**AN: Okay, I've been having a little breather from this for a while, while writing some chapters for "Obedience", but hopefully now the hols are up and coming I'll be able to update more on ALL of my storys - so keep checking out.**

**So yeah, please check out all my stories, as well as my poll on my profile if you want a quicker update to my stories; all of them are on there...**

**Also, If you have any free time, please check out my forum: "The Outsiders", which you can create a character on and use them in a story, which I shall post up once I have some more entries, so please please check it out and join in the fun. (you can find it on the second page in the forums thing)**

**So please enjoy, read and review.**

**^_^**

**Kaytii/**

Hatsuyuki Shinderera

Kyo's POV

I sat at my computer, waiting impatiently. It was gone 2 in the morning, but I had promised that I would be on when she arrived, and no matter how tired I felt, I wouldn't abandon her…

***Hatsuyuki has just signed in***

_Finally_. I had been waiting for _hours_ for her to log on… but then again, it _always _took her ages to get on… she was never on before midnight…

**Hatsuyuki: Hiya Iri.**

**Iri: You're on later than usual…**

What?

Why are you all staring at me as if I'm crazy?!?

It was all true! She was almost TWO hours later than usual… and she was **never** late…

Unless…

**Hatsuyuki: Yeah… I had some… **_**family**_** problems…**

**Iri: Can you be more specific…?**

**Hatsuyuki: Oh "Iri" you know I can't tell you about my problems in detail… family rules and that…**

What she didn't say was that she would be punished if she told anyone anything…

And so that was why she never told me anything about her life… I mean, I knew she was a girl … but even when she told me about her past… or about what was happening wherever she was… she still didn't _say_ anything…

… Although she talked all the time, she never said anything personal about her…

… And she knew all about me – and I didn't even know "Hatsuyuki's" name…

… And yet still I knew I loved her, loved all the mystery about her…

… Because I _did_ have my suspicions about her; she had told me that she was from a reclusive family and of high school age… and there was only one person that I had seen that could fit that description…

… The girl I saw at the main estate…

… How could it be anyone else…?

… I was in love with her, that girl, _Hatsuyuki_…

**Hatsuyuki: Kyo…? You're spacing out again…**

**Iri: Oh… sorry… so who caused the problems…? **_**Him**_**…?**

Of course, I didn't know for certain who "he" was… she never said… but I had my suspicions on who he was… because there was only one Sohma that I knew could install such fear in a person… and I had a feeling that she was a Sohma…

… But if she was, then she was just one that I had never met before…

… So it seemed unlikely… but it was all I had to go on…

**Hatsuyuki: Yeah… he was in a bad mood today… and… I received mail…**

**Iri: Mail? What's so bad about Mail…?**

**Hatsuyuki: I **_**never**_** get mail… It could have been sent to someone else in the family… but it had been put in my pigeon hole… and so… he burnt it…**

That was strange… the only person who had had an invitation sent to that resided in the main house was…

Yuki.

**Iri: Damn rat…**

**Hatsuyuki: What?**

**Iri: Oh! Sorry, sorry! I was just thinking and must have typed it!!!**

**Hatsuyuki: And what were you thinking about Kyo?**

**Iri: Just… well… Shishou sent an invitation to the main house… to a classmate… that must be the one that you received… Damn rat, always getting in the way, getting innocent people hurt!**

**Hatsuyuki: You know, Yuki isn't really **_**that**_** bad… you could get to know him better.**

She was always like that, so forgiving… but how could she expect me to be the same… so _kind_…?

I wasn't perfect, I was a monster… and yet she still had a glimmer of hope within her that _I_ could be like her…

… And strangely enough, I wish that I could be more like her as well…

… But how did she know that I was talking about Yuki just by saying 'damn rat'…

… Unless she knew about the curse as well…

**Iri: That won't happen 'Hatsuyuki'… he's the rat, I'm the cat. That's all there is to it, and all that there will EVER be to it.**

**Hatsuyuki: I wish it weren't…**

When she said that, I could almost hear the sadness in her… it was strange how she was always like this…

… It was almost as if she really cared about me and the damn Nezumi being friends…

**Iri: I'm sorry Hatsuyuki… anyway; let's talk about something more… **_**interesting**_**…**

Of course, she instantly knew what I was talking about…

**Hatsuyuki: Kyo! You know I can't tell you… no…**

**Iri: No, I'm not going to ask you your name… at least not directly… Let me have three questions… please…?**

**Hatsuyuki: …**

**Iri: Please…?**

**Hatsuyuki: Fine. Three Questions. But that's it, okay?**

**Iri: k… just let me think…**

**Hatsuyuki: **_**Okay**_**…**

What should I ask her…?

There was so much I wanted to know, and here she would answer me…

So I'd ask the simplest ones, without making her uncomfortable…

**Iri: Are you a Sohma…?**

**Hatsuyuki: …**

**Iri: Are you…?**

**Hatsuyuki: Not one that you would have met...**

What did she mean by that…? But at least I knew that she was a Sohma…

… So I knew who it was that was hurting her…

… The same person who hurt _all_ of us, all of the time…

**Hatsuyuki: Question 2?**

**Iri: Have I ever seen you before?**

**Hatsuyuki: … Yeah… you have… You probably wouldn't recognise me when you did though…**

So she knew that I had seen her…

Had I seen her on a special occasion… or at New Years and just ignored her…?

Have I known her for a long time and just turned a blind eye to her suffering…?

**Hatsuyuki: And question 3?**

Evidently it was a topic that she didn't really want to talk about… so I wouldn't mention it anymore, if it hurt her to mention it…

I only had one question left to ask… and I knew _exactly_ what I would ask her.

**Iri: Hatsuyuki… will you meet me sometime…?**

**Hatsuyuki: …**

**Iri: Before you answer please let me explain!**

**Hatsuyuki: …okay…**

**Iri: It's my birthday soon… on Saturday… I was wondering… well could you come… Shishou won't mind… and he can always get you out if necessary…**

**Hatsuyuki: … I doubt Kazuma could get me out…**

How did she know Shishou well enough to use his first name…? Could I ask him about her…?

**Hatsuyuki: … but… if he **_**could**_**, then… yeah, I'd **_**love**_** to ge;orhis**

What had happened?

**Iri: Hatsuyuki?**

**Iri: Hatsuy****uki?**

And there was no response…

What had happened…?

Had she been caught…?

***You have lost connection with Hatsuyuki. Please check your internet server***


	6. Hatsuyuki Part 2

**AN: Okay, so by now you've had chance to read what happened, but you probably didn't know ALL that happened, and were confused why Yuki said those things... SO I decided to post the chapter in HER point of view, so you can see why she said (typed?) those things... okay**

**Please enjoy, read and review ^_^**

**Kaytii**

Hatsuyuki Shinderera

Yuki's POV

After hiding it took me almost three hours to get to my room without being detected – something I always had to do when I snuck out, but today it seemed even harder than usual…

And it was two in the MORNING when I finally reached my room…

… And I knew he'd be gone by now, he wouldn't wait two hours for me, even if I needed him after what had happened…

Well… I suppose I might as well try to log on… he _could _be there…

… Not that I had much hope of it…

***Iri has just signed in***

So he is online…

Has he been waiting for me all this time…?

**Hatsuyuki: Hiya Iri.**

**Iri: You're on later than usual…**

So he _did_ notice… a well, I suppose it was only natural – I mean _I_ would have noticed if someone had been TWO HOURS late… and I had been…

At least it hadn't been my fault… not that **any** of it was my fault…

… After all, I had no choice in any of the events… although I wish I had… wish I _could_ have a choice in what would happen in my life.

**Hatsuyuki: Yeah… I had some… **_**family**_** problems…**

**Iri: Can you be more specific…?**

*sigh*

He is _always_ trying to get me to be more specific… but I _can't_ be. If Akito ever went onto my computer and saw my conversations… well, he'd kill me… or at least keep me even more chained up even more than he does now…

… So I _can't _tell him… no matter what, I must protect the one I love, and the one who hates part of me… and seems to like the other part…

So I told him what I always did when he asked for the details…

**Hatsuyuki: Oh "Iri" you know I can't tell you about my problems in detail… family rules and that…**

I waited for five minutes as he thought about what he said, but then I got a little worried, was he still there?

Another five minutes, and I got even more concerned…

**Hatsuyuki: Kyo…? You're spacing out again…**

**Iri: Oh… sorry… so who caused the problems…? **_**Him**_**…?**

It was amazing how much Kyo could guess about my life without even knowing anything about my life… truly amazing…

But I suppose it would be easy to find things about a person's life if they _wanted_ you to find out about it… and I most certainly did want him to find out…

… Find out – and accept it all…

**Hatsuyuki: Yeah… he was in a bad mood today… and… I received mail…**

Mail for Yuki Sohma, mail for _me_… but of course, _he_ wouldn't know that…

**Iri: Mail? What's so bad about Mail…?**

**Hatsuyuki: I **_**never**_** get mail… It could have been sent to someone else in the family… but it had been put in my pigeon hole… and so… he burnt it…**

… So I had to explain it to him…

Because he or his Shishou had sent me the first piece of mail I had ever received… and Akito didn't like that, no sir he didn't.

**Iri: Damn rat…**

Damn rat… that was what he called me when I was at school… did he know?!?

**Hatsuyuki: What?**

**Iri: Oh! Sorry, sorry! I was just thinking and must have typed it!!!**

He had just made a simple mistake…

… So why did it feel as if he had ripped out a piece of my soul as he spoke those careless words…?

**Hatsuyuki: And what were you thinking about Kyo?**

I had to know… I couldn't explain why… I just HAD to…

**Iri: Just… well… Shishou sent an invitation to the main house… to a classmate… that must be the one that you received… Damn rat, always getting in the way, getting innocent people hurt!**

Poor boy. He _still_ didn't realise that this 'Yuki' he knew hadn't caused this problem… rather him sending the invite in the first place… and Akito's reaction to it…

**Hatsuyuki: You know, Yuki isn't really **_**that**_** bad… you could get to know him better.**

I regretted typing that as soon as I had pressed 'enter'. How could I give myself away so… so _easily_…?

**Iri: That won't happen 'Hatsuyuki'… he's the rat, I'm the cat. That's all there is to it, and all that there will EVER be to it.**

And how could he still be so _blinded_ by the hate between the Nezumi and the Neko…?

I had long since passed that phase…

… I had passed that phase the day I first saw him…

…. The day that I fell in love with him for the first time…

On my first day of freedom…

**Hatsuyuki: I wish it weren't…**

As I said that, I knew it weren't true – he'd always hate Yuki… but maybe I could get him not to hate _me_ as much…

There had to be hope for that to happen… there just had to be…

**Iri: I'm sorry Hatsuyuki… anyway; let's talk about something more… **_**interesting**_**…**

No, oh no, no, no, no, NO!

Why did he _always_ have to bring that up!

I wouldn't tell him my name – I COULDN'T!

… But that didn't mean that I didn't _want_ him to know… to guess…

… This was why I let things slip up every now and again… just so he would begin to accept me – ALL of me…

… But I had to make it appear that I didn't want him to know… even though I

**Hatsuyuki: Kyo! You know I can't tell you… no…**

**Iri: No, I'm not going to ask you your name… at least not directly… Let me have three questions… please…?**

**Hatsuyuki: …**

I couldn't let him have three questions… then again…

I **wanted** him to know…

I was just scared he'd reject me…

Like everyone else has done…

… And what, according to Akito, they would continue to do…

I was just so, so scared…

**Iri: Please…?**

… But if I just did nothing, and continued lying, then he really WOULD hate me…

… So I **had** to risk the truth… even if it was only to answer three of his questions…

**Hatsuyuki: Fine. Three Questions. But that's it, okay?**

**Iri: k… just let me think…**

**Hatsuyuki: **_**Okay**_**…**

I knew I'd regret saying those things… but still, I couldn't help myself… I almost _needed _him to know…

… I needed someone to know the truth about me, and to hold me even when I was in danger…

… Someone to accept EVERYTHING about me…

… Someone like him…

**Iri: Are you a Sohma…?**

**Hatsuyuki: …**

Still, I didn't expect him to be so blunt…

But I had promised myself that I would tell him the complete truth… so tell him the truth I would… no matter what the consequences would be…

**Iri: Are you…?**

I decided to tell him the truth, even if he wouldn't understand it…

**Hatsuyuki: Not one that you would have met… **

So he knew I was a Sohma now… I suppose it would only be a matter of time until he visited the main estate, in hope to find me…

Ah well…

I decided to stop his musings in the bud – and how better than to move him onto the next question….

**Hatsuyuki: Question 2?**

**Iri: Have I ever seen you before?**

Only like every single bloody school day…

I settled for saying something less obvious.

**Hatsuyuki: … Yeah… you have… You probably wouldn't recognise me when you did though…**

And now to move STRAIGHT on to the next question, again so that he wouldn't suspect anything…

**Hatsuyuki: And question 3?**

**Iri: Hatsuyuki… will you meet me sometime…?**

**Hatsuyuki: …**

Out of all the questions he could have asked me, I would never have expected **that** one… and unfortunately, for me it was forbidden for me to do. I was never allowed to do anything without Akito's direct permission, and I somehow doubted that Akito would allow me to meet the Neko as a **girl**…

**Iri: Before you answer please let me explain!**

I suppose I _could_ give him an opportunity to explain… after all, it wouldn't do me any harm... would it…?

**Hatsuyuki: …okay…**

**Iri: It's my birthday soon… on Saturday… I was wondering… well could you come… Shishou won't mind… and he can always get you out if necessary…**

Kazuma? No matter what little Authority he had in the family would get me to that party… not even the fact that he _knew_ that I was a girl, having taught me martial arts when I was little, would help him convince Akito to let me go there… nothing _anyone_ but Akito said himself would matter to our 'god'

**Hatsuyuki: … I doubt Kazuma could get me out…**

But still… maybe I _could_ sneak out…

**Hatsuyuki: … but… if he **_**could**_**, then… yeah, I'd **_**love**_** to ge;orhis**

As I finished the sentence I felt a cold hand rest upon my own, pressing the keys down upon the keyboard and resting his other hand upon my neck possessively.

"Yuki _dear_… what on earth are you doing up so late, and talking to a strange…?" He looked up at the screen, to see who I was talking to.

**Iri: Hatsuyuki?**

**Iri: Hatsuyuki…?**

"The Cat?" He whispered threateningly, breathing down my neck "You have been seeing the… _cat_… The _Cat_ knows your secret, and… wants to take you to a party…?"

I knew that his questions were rhetorical… but still, I couldn't stop myself in time from talking back to Akito…

"He… he's not that bad Akito-sama… and he doesn't realise it's me… at least no—"

"_Not yet_…" Akito closed the hand that was around my neck tighter, causing me to squeal. "Well, we shall have to make sure he _never _finds out…"

Akito giggled to himself, removing his hand from on top of mine, before pulling out the dagger that always was around my person.

"Your mine Yuki-chan." He seethed, letting go of my, but brandishing the knife, keeping me in my place. "You hear it, _mine_. You are _forbidden_ to talk to anyone else, _got it_?"

As he raised the dagger I felt my world go blank, and I screwed up my eyes in fear…

But no thudding came.

No blood left my body…

There wasn't even any real pain…

… Because _I_ hadn't been his intended target…

… At least not at that moment…

The computer had been…

"Now, little Yuki-chan, _get up_!" He whispered threateningly, grabbing me from under my arm and marching me out of the room…


	7. The Room of Fears

**AN: I must gappologise to you all, I have just so surprisingly been busy over the holidays!!!**

**So yeah, I'll keep this Author note short.**

**Just a few thanks; to all those who have been reading and reviewing this fic - thank you! You are my motivation to continue writing!!!**

**And to all those participating in my forum the most; PhoenixPandora, Sareanae and Tuliharja - you have all helped my forum go up to 7th place out of over 100 - so a great thank you to you all.**

**And to all those who like my writing - I am planning on having the forum being posted as a story, so If you want your names mentioned in it - then go right ahead and jopin; all those who are participating seem to enjoy the forum ^_^**

**Thank you again.**

**Kaytii/**

Hatsuyuki Shinderera

Yuki's POV

_As he raised the dagger I felt my world go blank, and I screwed up my eyes in fear…_

_But no thudding came._

_No blood left my body…_

_There wasn't even any real pain…_

… _Because I hadn't been his intended target…_

… _At least not at that moment…_

_The computer had been…_

"_Now, little Yuki-chan, get up!" He whispered threateningly, grabbing me from under my arm and marching me out of the room…_

***

As Akito dragged me through the corridors, barging past the occasional maid, fear began to take over me, causing me to think irrationally… I couldn't help but feel completely petrified by that fear, and as my feet began to stop moving he just growled and continued dragging me towards wherever he was taking me, his hand gripping tighter upon my wrist, binding me more to him… and causing me to squeal in pain…

"Will you just _keep quiet_…? God! It's like you've never experience anything like this before…!" He bitched to himself as I put my other hand over my mouth to stop any more unintentional sound coming out of it.

… But the pain of his sharp nails digging into my delicate skin was still unbearable, and I couldn't help but beg him to stop…

"A… Akito-sama… p… _please_… It hurts…" I whimpered as he dug his nails even harder into my flesh, drawing out blood.

"Why?" He smirked at my expression… at my pleading eyes… "You deserve this, and what's more; _you know it_! So why should I give mercy, after all; it's no fun that way!"

At those words I knew all hope was gone, so I just slumped and let him drag me away, his bony hand always gripped painfully against my wrist, even when he unlocked that dreaded door…

… The door to the room that was reserved…

_Just._

_For._

_Me…_

"Don't cry now Yuki-chan…" Akito whispered strangely as he shoved me across the room, causing me to slam against the opposite wall, an action that gave him plenty of time to lock the door behind him firmly. "You know this is all _your_ fault… why resist…?"

"Now…" He smirked to himself as he walked up to my huddled figure. "Who were you talking to?"

At his words my eyes widened – how could he expect me to betray the one I loved – for Akito defiantly knew that I loved _someone_, even if the person's name was unknown – If I didn't love him then I would never have risked denying Akito's law… we both knew that…

And yet here he was, standing above me waiting for me to betray him, out of fear of my god…

But Akito underestimated my sheer will power considerably…

He underestimated my love for Kyo…

He underestimated my sense of loyalty, not to him, but to _myself_…

Of course, my silence made Akito angry, but then again, whatever I had said would have made him angry, so I had been willing to take the risk…

"Now, little Yuki-chan…" He came up closer to me, and I couldn't help but edge backwards nervously, completely scared of his strangely fierce gaze… a gaze that had something almost inhuman in them… "You are going to tell me who you have been talking to for the last few weeks, who this person who knows about you is, because if you don't I'll have to resort to being… _unkind_…"

As he spoke I shivered again and found myself against the wall to my _private_ room, terrified and in danger…

"I… I d… I don't know his… his name…" I stuttered weakly, knowing even as I spoke, he saw through my act… just like he always did…

"Of course you do little Yuki… but I'm not concerned about that as much as something else… does he know _your _name?" The urgency in his eyes was even more terrifying than when the anger had been in them, he actually really wanted to know this… he was almost _insane_ in his need to know that one thing…

Thankfully for me, I didn't need to lie… he would know for certain that the _dirty_ little secret was contained… for now…

"No, he… he doesn't know who I really am, and he never will…" I spoke those words because I knew they were exactly what Akito wanted to hear, even though the wrenched open my heart to speak the words that betrayed what little hope I had…

"Good…" Akito stroked my cheek delicately, and I shuddered away from his touch, hating him at that moment almost as much as I did when he let his temper out on me…

… Because I was the _great_ Akito-sama's human punch bag…

How absolutely _brilliant_…

"I suppose now I will just have to make sure you refrain from keeping in contact with this boy… and make sure you don't go to wherever you had planned to meet…" He whispered, causing my eyes to widen in shock. "Oh yes, I saw enough to know that you planned to meet with him, to tell him you loved him… to tell him what you truly are… don't think me stupid my little Nezumi… even though I'm ill, and frail, _I can still work a computer_! So don't think you can deceive me girl!"

As he spoke he raised his fist; the fist with the knuckle-duster upon it and punched me in the face, causing my deep crimson blood to trickle down my face slowly, like a stream…

"No! I… I'm s… sorry A… Akito-sama… I… I _don't_ think that you are s… stupid… I… it was me that d… did wrong…" I stuttered the words, trying to make them sound like something Akito would want me to say… but for once it _wasn't _what Akito wanted from me – and I never found out what he actually wanted… maybe he just wanted to hurt me, no matter what I said or did…

*slap*

I covered my face instinctively and as I withdrew it from my face I caught the lingering scent of blood again…

_Oh dear…_

"Wrong answer Yuki…" He whispered menacingly as he pulled out the rope…

_The_ rope…

***

I opened my eyes to complete darkness. Rubbing them, I looked around, trying to decipher why it was so dark…

…Then it hit me…

… My heart started pounding as I realised where I was…

… Which _room_ I was in…

"Let me out…" I whimpered to the people who were not there, who wouldn't come even if they _did_ hear me…

_Now why would he do that Yuki…? You know he will never let us be until we are tamed…_

'But I don't want to be tamed! I'm a free person!'

_No, you're not. _We're_ not… We are just here to be Akito's little pet…_

'Stop it! Stop saying stuff like that!' I screamed at the spirit within me, terrified that her words would actually become true…

_Fine, but don't blame _me_ when my words become the truth…_

And with that the voice left me alone… alone in the dark…

… And terrified…

It was strange, I had been in this room so often, you would almost think that I would get used to being there…

… But of course I never got used to this room… no matter how long I spent there, how much I got 'used' to spending time in the room…

… No matter what, I was always terrified of this place…

… And now was no different…

And still… when I was finally freed from the room, and the light was blazed into my eyes, I would still shrink back into the corner…

… Because for me the darkness was safer for me; at least in that room I knew what would happen…

In the light, I was lost.

"Yuki-san…" The door opened slightly and a maid came in, taking care not to look at me – as she was ordered not to, especially when I was like _this_… "It is time for school… your belongings are in the room next door… and make sure you cover that black eye… okay…?"

Great… even when I was half-dead from his beatings Akito still believed I should make an appearance in school…

… But never before had he made me go into school with a visible mark…

Did he even know…?

Did he even care about me…?

Why did I even have to ask myself that…?


	8. An eye for an eye

**Hiya to all my readers and I'M BACK!!**

**I hope y'all missed me!**

**Anyway, to the story. The last chapter was pretty angstty... I actually cried as I re-read it today while preparing for this chapter... maybe thats BAD though for an author to get moved by her own stuff... ah well ^_^**

**And this chapter probably will be a little better with a few lighter moments, but it's preparing for the big revieling secret and stuff so more angst ^_^**

**I hope you enjoy this chapter and will chack out all my other stories - the majority are angst, so yeah if you like angst - read and review my stories - its what I'm best at writing after all!!!**

**^_^**

**Your devoted writer,**

**Kaytii/**

_

* * *

_

Hatsuyuki Shinderera - Part 8 (I think)

Kyo's POV

~"...Take an Eye for an Eye, turn your heart into stone..." _Les Miserables, Valjean's soliloquy_~

(yeah I've decided to add in appropriate quotes now ^_^)

_*__**You have lost connection with Hatsuyuki. Please check your internet server***_

***The Next Day***

All night I had stayed up, wondering what could have happened to 'Hatsuyuki'. I knew she had it hard at home… she was a Sohma; who wouldn't if they were a member of my family…?

But still… the way she just carried on with life against all odds… it was so admirable, even though it made me want to protect her so, so much…

… But still… I couldn't help my feelings…. I didn't _want_ to stop what I was feelings…

So I sat there, waiting for her to come on throughout the night…

***Hatsuyuki has signed in***

… But when Hatsuyuki signed back on it wasn't _her_ who spoke to me…

… It was whoever had disconnected her…

… Sohma Akito…

It's strange, isn't it…? Hatsuyuki would confide all her fears and dreams with me, and yet something was stopping her from telling me one little word…

… Her name.

She was too afraid to tell me her name…

**Hatsuyuki: Iri, whoever you are. Delete this account immediately and have nothing to do in the future with my little 'Hatsuyuki'-**

So the person was tormenting me with the knowledge that he/she knew Hatsuyuki's name…?

**Hatsuyuki: --do you understand? If I even **_**hear**_** that you have been talking to her again, then I WILL find you… and you **_**both**_** shall suffer…**

***Hatsuyuki has signed out***

***

I must have fallen asleep after that, after all when I woke up daylight was streaming through my open window, the alarm by my bed ringing violently, telling me to get up.

"Kyo…?" I heard Shishou call me, and it was time to forget about all that had happened and get ready for school – and the fight… not that anyone else knew about that apart from me…

… And Hatsuyuki…

Of course, she had tried to get me to put off the fight.

But I couldn't.

I had had enough of the damn pretty boy, and now it was time to see what he was made of…

To see if he really was as smart and brilliant as they all say.

"Kagura's here Kyo…" Shishou's voice carried up the house as he spoke and it was only then that I heard the female voice next to his…

… Kagura's voice.

Damn that girl was almost as annoying as Yuki – always clinging onto me… and battering me whenever I said _anything_ that wasn't perfect.

"I'm coming Shishou!" I grumbled back, dragging myself into my uniform and pulling myself down the stairs to see the awaiting Kagura holding a cup of tea, a mixture of expressions on her face at the prospect of having to taste something my Shishou made… something she was wise to do…

"KYO!!!" She called as I was engulfed by her entirely.

"Kagura… geroff me…" I mumbled, trying to force her of me. God, if I couldn't even get _her_ off me what hope did I really have against that sissy boy…?

No… I couldn't think like that.

I wanted to win.

I _needed_ to win…

… I just didn't really understand why…

"Come one Kyo my darling, let's get to school!" She smiled joyfully and pulled me along to school, chattering wildly and allowing me to escape into my own thoughts for a while.

It was my birthday on Friday.

In three days time.

It wasn't as if I was excited about my actual birthday… rather I was excited about finally meeting her…

… And she kept my thoughts occupied until I was snapped out of them by that damn Yuki's fan girls…

"Hey have you seen the prince today…?" A group of them were asking each other wildly, with tears almost leaking from their eyes.

"No – he's usually here… do you think he's ill?"

"NO! He can't be!" The leader of the group, a girl in the year above with ginger hair called out over dramatically, getting attention from the group – and all around them – immediately. "The Prince is _never_ ill! Never before has he taken a day off in his entire school career. To do something like that takes… DEDICATION!"

And with that she swooned onto a waiting chair, her fellow fans swarming around her like bees until…

"LOOK! IT'S THE PRINCE SEMPEI!" A girl with black hair ran up to the group, and as the others moved I saw him there, walking up to the school, head down…

Head _**down**_?!?

Usually the 'prince' always walked proudly, with his head held high, the bastard…

Maybe he really _was_ ill…

**Great!**

If Yuki was off colour, then all the better – what a perfect day to decide to fight him!

I might even win…

But I can't just think like that. I have to prepare…

"Kagura, I'm off." I told the girl as I went through the school gates, leaving her to go to the collage next door.

"Bye Kyooo-kuuun!" She smiled as she skipped away, and I just tried my best to ignore her.

_Now where was he…?_ I thought to myself as I manoeuvred the corridors. _Is he trying to avoid me…? Maybe he knows that he's going to lose…_

As I turned the corner I saw the bathroom door close, the door slamming violently.

Strange… the only one who usually slams doors around here is _me_…

"Hello…?" I walked in cautiously – after all, if it was Haru I didn't want him to vent off his 'black' side on _me_!

And there, leaning against the wall, in the corner was a slight figure…

… And that boy was crying…

"Are you al…--" I started to speak…

… Then I realised who it really was.

"Oh, it's you."

It was that damn Yuki.

"What do you want?" He asked in that arrogantly girly tone, not even bothering to look up at me.

"A Fight." I glared at him for a moment, before realising that if he wasn't looking, then it was a waste of my glare. "You've been avoiding me."

"Avoiding you?" I could almost hear the amusement in his smug voice then – and it just made me even _more_ annoyed… "I can assure you Kyo; I have been doing no such thing…"

Augh! He was annoying me _so_ much with his smugness.

And _why wouldn't he bloody look at me_?!?

"Now, if you wouldn't mind, I have somewhere _much_ more important to be…" He tried to push me away and leave, but, for once I could hold him back – what was wrong? Usually he would have bloody left by now!

"No. You listen you damn prissy boy! I've had enough of your attitude! Today we're going to fight – old fashioned fist on fist, not your 'Nancy pansy' defensive tactics – got it?"

"I really don't have the time, okay?" He snapped back, trying to force his way past me, but I held him tight and pushed him against the wall, by knee in his groin to keep him pinned.

And _still_ the damn rat wasn't affected by my attacks!

What did I have to do to him to get him to react to my attacks?

Kill him?

"Then you'll make time, okay!" I screamed at him wildly. "And look at me in the eyes when I talk to you, you damn rat!"

As I spoke I pulled his face up, forcing him to look at me, forcing him to see I was serious…

… And almost dropped it immediately.

It wasn't the tears in his eyes that shocked me – he was a sissy boy, of course he cried!

And it wasn't the lack of emotions that shocked me – after all, it was the expression that he used _every _time he saw me…

No, it was the shiner on his face, the mark on his eye…

A mark that had been placed on his face by a knuckle-duster.

Was he really _that_ easy a target?

Then why couldn't _I_ manage to lay a finger on him?

"What happened to _you_ Yuki?" I sneered at him as I spoke, the upper hand once in my favour. "Did someone through a tissue at you? Are you really that path--- OW!!!"

Did he just…

He DID!

He kicked me in the balls!

The damn rat…

I tried to grab hold of the slimy git again, but for some reason he was strong again, and by the time I had recovered enough to look up, he was behind me, grabbing _me_ by the scruff of my neck.

"Don't talk about things you have no knowledge of, okay?" He whispered venomously into my ear.

What on EARTH was wrong with him today?!?

He, well at least I knew _he_ wouldn't be able to go to my party, not if it had been sent to 'Hatsuyuki'…

Why did I think that?

Damn, why did I always think stuff like that?

Maybe it would be best if we never met, so she never saw me like this…

"Hey Kyo." A familiar voice called from the doorway. "I see Yuki got you again. What did you do _this_ time?"

God, why did they all have to come at the wrong bloody time?

"Shut up Haru!" I snapped back at him as I stormed out of the school bathroom. "I don't want to talk about it!"

"So I see 'The Fight' didn't go to plan…" He smirked a little as he jogged to catch up with me.

"I said, _shut up_! That damn Yuki may be too good at the moment, but _you_ sure aren't!"

"So he won then…"

"SHUT UP!"

I looked down then, trying in vain to calm down.

But then I saw it.

Three strands of long silvery-purple hair on my bag from when it had brushed against Yuki.

What the hell?


	9. Chapter 1 New Version

**03.02.2011**

**Hullo Readers.**

**I'm sorry the chapter's a tad late - I lost my memory stick and only found it today lol, and then had to do edits.**

**I hope its worth the wait.**

**Also, would you like the old chapters to remain, or would you prefer me to delete them?**

**Thanks,**

**Kyae**

* * *

Once upon a time, in the Provence known from the days of old as Tokyo, located in the country of Japan, there lived a girl named Misaki Nadaka. She was a breathtakingly beautiful young woman, fresh out of collage, with looks many women would kill for, and the most dazzling aura of joy, one that seemed to spread out wherever she went. However, despite that, she was still a very humble person, her religious family staying close together, despite the problems of the world.

And that was what Osamu Sohma saw when he looked upon her for the first time, when he was 23, and she 19 – a woman with looks beyond compare, and with a mind just as sharp as his own – a woman who was after his heart, just as much as he wanted hers...

He had met her in her first week of work – she a designer, and he her wealthy client, who needed costumes to be made for the Juunishi feast – not that she knew the purpose of the clothing – and ever since that encounter, they had been inseparable...

They were simply a match made in heaven, and everyone who saw them, whether it be her bishop father, or his wealthy relatives, agreed.

They were married within a year of meeting – a fairytale wedding – and eight months later they were blessed with a son, a boy who they named 'Ayame', and he was the apple of his mother's eye, their wild, and confidant personalities gleaming when together, and, in each other's company they wasted hours creating clothes, and costumes, mother teaching son her trade, the passionate bonds between the two for their craft outstanding.

She was so besotted with her son that she didn't notice her husband's rather erratic behaviour that slowly, but surely became more and more obvious to her, until it was too late... She knew he often flirted with the younger women, but never thought he would actually choose them over her... never...

She realised that he had often shunned her, even more so after the birth of their son... especially once it had been revealed that the poor child was possessed with the Hebi, but she had _never_ been fazed by her son's 'ailment' (as Osamu would often refer to it as), and as such she protected him as much as she could from the world's gossips, often allowing him to spend days with her parents and youngest brother, who was his age...

However, as soon as he was away safely with her family, or at school, or at his other best Hatori's house, she was a completely different woman, one who was haunted by the truth that was eating her away... At night she could barely even sleep as she lay next to the man, especially after the night she had found her husband sleeping with a **much** younger woman – a girl who was only 24, compared to his 36... Who had a child who was the same age as her Ayame... who even _looked_ like Osamu... and then, that same night, for the first time in five years, he had tried to bed her too, the stench of drugs and alcohol still tingeing his scent as he tried to force himself into her...

Dark circles were concealed and terror-ridden nights hidden from view of the outside world, even... _especially_ from her beloved brother, as she continued to struggle on, maintaining the facade in a futile attempt to protect _her_ child.

Not even when she announced the conception of a second child, after a night of her husband's drunkenness did her condition with Osamu improve - in fact, he kept an even further distance from her, and as she became further and further along in her pregnancy, there was barely a night that she even _saw_ the husband who had once been devoted to her...

She knew, deep inside, that he had left her in all but name a long, long time ago...

But even she hadn't anticipated the extent of his betrayal...

Not until the day she died.

* * *

Friday February 18th, 1994.

20:29

* * *

"Kaasan, Kaasan!" Misaki looked up from her knitting to see her exuberant son rushing into the room, his younger uncle following, grins plastered across their face as they rushed about.

Forcing a soft smile upon her face, she turned to face the two, her knitting now forgotten.

"You're ready to go and visit Hatori-kun now Ayame?" She asked, laughing at his excited nods... she had always wondered how he and the serious doctor's son had always got on, but yet, seeing them all together – Ayame, Hatori and Kai, her brother, they were the perfect group... The 'Mabudachi trio' one of the other kids had dubbed them, so she had been told.

"Yes Kaasan – I've packed my bag myself and everything!" The boy looked up at her with adoring eyes, and it broke her heart to know that his future was so uncertain...

"I'm ready too, Oneesan." The other added quietly, a shy smile gracing his lips as he stood next to his nephew, and best friend. Despite their blood relationship, the boys were inseparable, and she knew she could always rely on her family, if anything happened...

"Good, now, I trust you'll both go straight to Itsuki-sensei's?" She asked, putting on her 'mother' voice, as she walked the boys to the door. "I'll be there in ten minutes for my check up – okay? You'll remember to tell Itsuki-sensei?"

"Yes Kaasan/Oneesan!" The two chorused, waving as they ran down the drive, their backpacks clutched in their bands.

Waving back, Misaki closed the door softly, allowing the smile to trickle of her weary face as she sank to the floor, her legs turning to jelly.

Watching with horror as the water trickled from inside her – the instincts within her knowing her next child would be born, she feebly reached for the phone that Ayame had left on the sofa, and she rung the mobile number she knew off by heart, and yet had never called, too afraid that it wouldn't be her husband who answered.

"H-Hullo...?" She whispered hoarsely into the phone, straining to hear a distinct voice amongst the noises from the other side of the line (_'A club...'_ She thought bitterly). "O-Osamu?"

"What do you want Misaki?" The impatient voice called from the other end of the line.

"I-It's time Osamu darling..." She replied softly, cajolingly. "My waters have broken..."

"Not now Bu-bu-chan – give me a minute." She heard him speak to another, a girl – _that_ girl, and she felt her heart break.

He would never want her... the only man she could ever love – the one she had given her all too...

"What was that Misaki?"

"Nothing Osamu." She spoke harshly now, whilst internally forcing herself not to cry in mourning. "It's nothing that _you_ would care about. Come back crawling once you've finished with that bitch."

She didn't even wait for him to answer – as a spasm of pain flooded her, she threw the phone across the room, effectively ending the call as it shattered against the brick wall, and she shakily stood up.

Walking out of the door, without even thinking to put on shoes, or a coat, despite the approaching storm, the haunted figure slipped down the paths, resting every few yards to catch her breath, before she finally could go no further, a mere hundred feet from the building where her son was...

As she slid to the ground, clutching to a bench for support, the broken woman could feel her eyes closing, and she struggled to keep them open as she tried futilely to make it into the warmth...

* * *

20:38, Itsuki's surgery

* * *

Itsuki Sohma was a very perceptive man, despite his logical nature, just like his father, and his father before him, and so when he saw the two young boys arrive at his house, their mother still at home, he had instantly begun to worry.

After all, being the family doctor, he heard mores of the rumours than most, and if _anything_ those women were saying was true, then poor Misaki would be nearing a breakdown, especially at how her state of health had been rapidly deteriorating.

He knew just one wrong word could cause her to do something rash, and so, when he called for the first time, and the phone was engaged, and then, not two minutes later, and it was disconnected, the Doctor knew he needed to find the pregnant woman. Calling for his assistant, he put on his heavy-duty leather and made his way out into the blizzard, wondering where to go first.

It only took him thirty seconds to find the poor woman, and by then, it was too late.

Lips already tinged with blue, the pregnant woman was already delirious; her once alive eyes now broken and detached as she was told that she was ill.

"Misaki-chan... why didn't you call me?" The doctor implored, devastated at the state of her.

"I-I couldn't..." She whispered, her voice strained. "Not after he..."

As she spoke, suddenly another spasm of pain shot through her, and the woman almost collapsed form the pain.

"Okay, Misaki-chan – look at me." Itsuki lifted the other up, placing her on the bench as he moved her face to face his. "Hotaru-kun – get in contact with the Nadaka's."

"Yes Sensei." The young trainee doctor replied, as she rushed off.

"Misaki-chan – I need you to push now – we have to get the child out quickly, before we can move you, okay?" The doctor encouraged, as the to-be-mother heaved in pain...

Eventually, after half an hour of excruciating pain, the youngest Sohma was born.

There, amidst the blood of the womb was one of the most stunning young baby's the esteemed Doctor had ever seen. Still connected to her mother by the bond of love, the umbilical cord drenched with blood as the purple-eyed girl looked up at her mother, her eyes wide with concern as she reached out with longing to her mother.

Placing the child in her mother's arms, Itsuki watched as hazel and violent eyes connected for the first time, and the two generations embraced in the age-old expression of acceptance, despite the fact that it was painfully obvious that this new-born girl was also cursed, as Misaki's body faltered – the sign that her life was ending.

The doctor _knew_ he should have gone and got the woman inside, however something inside him had known that if he had saved the mother, then the child would have never made it out of the womb alive...

And, just by looking at the mother holding her child, he knew Misaki would have wanted him to save the child first too...

"H-Hatsu..." She managed to whisper, her voice faint in death, as her lips, blue with frostbite, kissed her child on the forehead, as she tried to keep the child warm, whilst still being connected. "H-Her name is... Hatsuyuki..."

Those were the last words Misaki Sohma née Nadaka ever spoke, and, as her eyes closed for the last time, the only thing she would remember as she passed through the veil into the mystery of the next world were those hauntingly beautiful orbs of the child who was fated to be cursed, as the intelligent girl reached out for her mother's touch for the first, last – and only time...

* * *

That was the first memory that the young Nezumi had – the memory of her mother's death... And it stayed with her all her life, the only knowledge of her mother she had... and it made her resent her father even more in the years to come.

* * *

21:18, Itsuki's surgery

* * *

Less than an hour later, Itsuki was sitting in his office, leaning over the paperwork having just bid goodbye to the Nadaka elders. Sure, the Nadaka family wasn't nearly as prominent as the Sohma's, not working within business as much, and not as wealthy... however, there were two things that the Nadaka family were the best in – Religion, and Law.

The Nadaka family easily produced the best lawyers in the country, maybe even better than most in the 'west', and ever since the marriage between Osamu and Misaki, they had been working together for mutual benefit.

_That_ was why Itsuki had contacted the head of the Nadaka clan – Misaki's father and allowed him to take her body before the Sohma's could place her in one of their temple gardens to be lost forever... It was bad enough the bad blood that was between the two families now...

Of course, when Akira had heard about the arrangements, he had warned the solid doctor that Osamu could take action against him...

That was _before_ he had discovered that Osamu was indirectly responsible for the woman's death, and the estrangement from the Nadaka family. When the new-father came round from whatever he doing, there was pretty much a guarantee that a hangover wouldn't be the only thing he would be suffering from...

Naturally, Itsuki didn't sympathise with Osamu at all – he had made his own bed after all, however, without a mother-figure, the doctor began to worry about what would happen to the two cursed children, left alone.

Itsuki looked down at the child, wondering what deity had cursed the infant so.

After all, every member of the Sohma family prayed the same prayer when they were 'blessed' with the conception of a child, all hoping that their child wouldn't be chosen to carry on the curse.

And most of the time, their prayers were answered.

But for two Juunishi to be born to the same parents...

It was almost _more_ than bad luck...

Turning back to his papers, Itsuki watched through bleary eyes as memories that had always lurked in the back of his mind began to resurface. He remembered fondly the day his own son, the young Hatori had been born... it had been such a day of happiness, despite the fact that he was cursed...

His Hatori had been born just two precious weeks before Misaki's first had arrived in the world, and yet the two births had been completely and utterly different...

And yet both were also utterly contrasting to the birth of the first Rat Juunishi in _five generations_...

It was such an occasion in the 'Juunishi' world that it was a wonder that the newest Kami, Akira's son Akito hadn't managed to get here yet, in all his toddler finery, demanding to see the young child...

And what a wondrous child the Nezumi seemed... Ever since the moment she had been taken from her mother's cold arms she hadn't uttered a sound – the child hadn't even whimpered... but her eyes had shown beyond comparison how the girl was feeling. Just looking at her now, watching her watching him, Itsuki could see so much expression in those violet orbs – so much hurt within them for such a child... It was almost unnatural... how could a baby of less than an hour experience such hurt?

And the worst thing about it was, even though he knew he could end her suffering immediately – simply by removing that one memory, he knew he wouldn't – _couldn't_ even.

The child deserved that at least – the chance to know her first memory... and if she managed to suppress it herself, then that was _her_ choice...

After all, Itsuki had heard the tales about the last rat, handed down through the doctor's line – his own grandfather had told him about it in fact, and it was clear that this child's life wouldn't be a happy one, despite the fact she was the Kami's favourite... No...

It was _because_ she would be the Kami's favourite that she would suffer so.

'_Because Kami could never live without his 'pet' rat with him...'_ The doctor thought bitterly to himself.

_Tap... Tap..._

Itsuki looked up at the door, in surprise. After all, the Nadaka's had already come to take away their child's body, and the only other person who would actually come without an appointment (Akira) he had spoken to earlier, and he had been fine... anyway, even if it _had_ been Akira-san, or his son, they wouldn't have waited – father because of probable urgency, and son... well simply because he was a brat.

"Come in," He called out quietly, and he stood up as the door opened shyly, to reveal the eldest two members of the Juunishi – Hatori and Ayame – both standing there, an unusually serious expression on the pair's faces. "Ah, Ayame-kun, Hatori – what can I do for you?"

"S-Sensei... W-what's going on...?" The frightened snake asked shakily, his amber eyes darting around the room. "Obaa-san and Ojii-san came and took Kai-kun away, and they were putting something in the ambulance... h-has something happened to m-mother...? Has _he_ done anything to her...?"

For a brief moment Itsuki was stunned at the venomous way the snake referred to his father, wondering what the father had done to his son to make the boy hate him so... then he realised that it was probably what the father had _failed_ to do – save his mother.

"You may wish to sit down Ayame-kun..." Itsuki began softly, barely speaking over a whisper as he offered the other chair in the room – a kind of therapy chair that could recline – but Ayame seemed distracted. Following the Hebi's eye-line, Itsuki's eyes rested on the boy's sister, as the snake made his way to the young child, whose innocent face already mirrored their mother's, despite the fact it was so young, their undeniable perfectness reflected flawlessly...

"She... mothers... moved on... h-hasn't she...?" Ayame whispered hoarsely, still looking down at his baby sibling, who looked back at him, gold and purple – brother and sister – staring at each other for the first time.

"And so the Nezumi has been born..." A voice from next to the snake spoke, and the snake turned around to see his best friend standing there, his voice comforting. Hatori was the only person Ayame had chosen as a friend, other than his uncle, despite the offer from that other Juunishi boy who was their age – Shigure, or something like that.

Neither the snake nor the dragon would trust the boy, who had already shown himself as a bully to all those other Sohma's who weren't as well off.

And **especially** since he was so close to Akito, sucking up to the young toddler at every opportunity, despite the fact the Kami was only the tender of age of two... and yet he was incredibly advanced for her age.

"I won't let them hurt her you know." Ayame spoke up after a few minutes, reaching out his hand to touch Yuki's. "Not father and certainly not Akito."

Almost as if she had understood her brother's vow, the Nezumi's hand closed on the snakes, and she gurgled – the first sound that had come from her in hours, as if she were thanking her sibling...


End file.
